DNA Ancestry

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed on from mother to child, allowing us to focus on maternal lineage. Through the analysis of hypervariable regions (HVR1, HVR2 and HVR3) of mtDNA, we can uncover maternal ancestry. The haplogroup is determined based on the analysis of mitochondrial markers inherited from your ancestors. The haplogroup indicates the major branch points on the Phylogenetic tree to determine maternal link back in time.

Hypervariable Regions

The mitochondrial DNA contains three variable regions, most laboratories only test for regions I and II. At FirmaLab, we sequence all hypervariable regions to be sure we give you an accurate result for your ancestry. The image below shows the mitochondrial DNA map. The three green boxes on the top are the three regions used for determining your genetic ancestry.

mtDNA Haplogroups

Each person is assigned haplogroups depending on the variations found in the hypervariable regions. Below is a map that shows the distributions of haplogroups in a world map.

The following map shows the migrations patterns that have happened since Mitochondrial Eve which originated in Africa. The first haplogroup is L0 and all the other haplogroups emerged from this one.

For more information about this test, or if you or your doctor have any questions please email us at: info@firmalab.com